Bitcoin Surges 17% In Sudden Move To Above $8,000

Bitcoin surged
Thursday more than 17 percent in a sudden move to above $8,000 at one point,
according to trading on Coinbase.

The cryptocurrency
hit a high of $8,011 on Coinbase.

Trading was volatile
and bitcoin was about 11.5 percent higher over the last 24 hours near $7,700 as
of 3:31 p.m. ET, according to Coinbase. Bitcoin leaped from a low of $6,786
Thursday morning and some traders are watching whether it can hold above
$7,500.

The sudden jump
forced traders who had bet against the cryptocurrency to buy back into the
market.

"Once [bitcoin]
broke higher, shorts were squeezed and forced to cover," said Brian Kelly,
CNBC contributor and head of BKCM, which runs a digital assets strategy for
clients.

"The ratio of
short margin trades versus longs has been increasing recently," said Nick
Kirk, quantitative developer and data scientist at Cypher Capital, a
cryptocurrency trading firm. "Buying volume ticked up today and a lot of
these short trades got liquidated, helping fuel the rally."

Bitcoin surged above
$19,000 in December, a gain of 2,000 percent over the previous 12 months. But
the cryptocurrency has since lost roughly two-thirds of its value given worries
about regulatory crackdowns and tax-related selling ahead of the U.S. tax
deadline on April 17.

Some traders
indicated Thursday's move could be an unwinding of that pressure.

"I think it's
just some pent-up market movement," said Ansel Lindner, a bitcoin investor
and host of the "Bitcoin & Markets" podcast. There's also
"some relief in the selling" ahead of tax day.

"Even though
the price has been going down lately, the development of the next generation
bitcoin infrastructure hasn't stopped," Lindner said.

Once the April 17
tax deadline has passed, some cryptocurrency market watchers expect bitcoin
prices can recover further, although regulatory uncertainty remains.

"After
deteriorating through March, cryptocurrenices are showing early indications of
improving," Rob Sluymer, technical strategist at Fundstrat Global
Advisors, said in a Thursday report.

Bitcoin
"stabilized above $6,500 support over the past two weeks and is rallying
through important technical resistance defined by its March downtrend," he
said, noting the next major area of resistance is near $9,000.

Other major
cryptocurrencies also gained Thursday. Ethereum traded
9.5 percent higher over the last 24 hours near $463, according to Coinbase.